Heal
by sarijw
Summary: 10Rose. In hindsight, she could say she knew it would happen before it did.


**A/N: **For my beta, le-merle-noir, who requested painfully sweet fluffy ship. Here you go, darling! 

**Disclaimers:** I keep David locked up in my bedroom closet, except when he comes out to play. Don't worry, Chris is keeping him company. Oh, and I remember to water and feed them at least once a week. At _least_.

**Spoilers: **None to think of. Takes place some time in S2. Take your pick!

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They stumbled through the doors, the soles of Rose's trainers slick with mud and rain and causing her to skid a little. The Doctor laughed at her as he slammed the doors shut behind them, against the gale force of the wind and rain. She carefully made her way to the jump seat and clambered onto it.

"Ooh, it's cold in here," Rose complained, crossing her arms against the chill. The Doctor smirked at her as he shrugged out of his wet overcoat and laid it on the railing, spreading it out to dry.

"Maybe you should get into something dry, then." He made his way to the console and flicked the necessary switches to send them into dematerialisation and into the Vortex.

"I will in a minute. I'm too knackered to be bothered right now." She pulled her knees to her chest, resting her heels on the edge of the seat. He quirked a grin at her as he came around the console. Bending, he hefted one of the grates and set it aside before shrugging out of his suit jacket and handing it to her.

She dug out the sonic screwdriver from one of the pockets and held it out to him where he stood in front of her, hipshot, as he unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves. When he took the screwdriver and turned toward the hole in the grating, she flipped the jacket over her shoulders and snuggled into it, best she could.

"Are you going to help or just sit there and look pretty?" His voice floated out to her from beneath the grating and she watched as his brown and teal pinstriped legs wiggled a bit as he slid his body closer to the central column.

"Just look pretty, probably. It's what I do best." She heard him snort.

"Shut it and get the tool bag." Shrugging out of his jacket, Rose hopped off the jump seat. The room seemed to spin a little and tilt on its axis just a tiny bit, so she put a hand out to steady herself. "Rose?"

"Yeah," she said, shaking her head to clear it. "I'm gettin' it." She dug the bag out from its usual hiding place and then brought it back to the hole in the floor. She sat next to the Doctor's legs, wincing a bit. She was a lot more sore after that run than she'd thought. "Do you think I can't look pretty, Doctor?"

"You're gorgeous. Can you hand me the thermal coupling degenerator?" Rose peered into the black canvas bag of tools at her side. She looked back at the Doctor's legs where they stuck out from under the grating. She looked back at the bag again.

She tugged it closer and rooted through the tools before pulling one out. It certainly looked like a thermal coupling degenerator would look like if she made one. Hoping for the best, she reached into the hole the Doctor was tucked into and nudged him in the belly with the tool. He took it from her and after a minute, a soft litany of curses floated out to her once more as he fought the TARDIS on her repairs.

"Why the sudden concern with how you look?"

"Hmm?" Rose's eyes popped open. Had she really almost fallen asleep?

"Everything all right up there?" He sounded like he was about to laugh and she glared in what she thought might be the general direction of his head.

"I'm going to get tea. Do you want anything?" Grabbing the rail at the edge of the console, she pulled herself to her feet, once again fighting back a wave of dizziness.

"Tea's fine, thanks."

Holding out a hand for balance, she swallowed gamely against the nausea as she skidded slightly in her still-wet trainers.

"I must've hit my head," Rose mumbled. She rubbed her eyes as she went through the doorway into the kitchen and set about making two cups of tea. In no time at all, the two steaming mugs of fragrant liquid were sitting innocently on the counter and Rose was staring at them apprehensively.

She hadn't really been light-headed since she'd come into the kitchen, or so she told herself. She made her way carefully down the corridor back to the console room, which thankfully wasn't far, keeping her eyes on the liquid in the mugs. If she spilled anything in here, the Doctor would kill her.

In hindsight, she could say she knew it would happen before it did. The Doctor had apparently moved his position to a different grating in her absence. She felt another indefinable wave of light-headedness.

Her toes hit the edge of the newly opened grating and her knees buckled. The mugs flew as she automatically threw out her arms to catch herself, landing with a gurgling smash not too far away.

She heard the Doctor give a shout, but it only faintly buzzed in the back of her mind and then she was falling. Her knees banged painfully against the edge of the grating as her upper body landed with a thud on the soft surface of the floor. Soft?

Looking down, confused, Rose studied the pale blue expanse of the flooring. But that wasn't right. She put her hand out to touch it. The floor under the grating was _black_, not powder bl—

"What the _hell_ was that?" Jumping, she looked up and met the Doctor's sharp brown eyes, his eyebrows so high they were nearly knitted into his hairline.

Oh.

She'd landed on the Doctor.

"I'm gonna have bruises the size of _Texas_ after this one!" He exclaimed, only half-joking. Rose gave him a weak smile.

"Doctor…" Her voice sounded hollow to her own ears, the edges of her vision blurred. "I do believe I hit my head."

* * *

"Now," the Doctor said, packing up the little first aid kit and setting it back on the shelf before turning back to her on his little rolling stool. "Anything else hurt that I missed?"

"Well…" Rose felt the heat infuse her cheeks and she glanced away. She held her leg straight out in front of her and looked at the bandage on it. She'd sliced it open when the leg of her jeans had ridden up as they'd climbed over the fence at the jail. The lower half of her jeans leg was still caked and stiff, nearly black, with her blood, the loss of which had caused her to collapse.

"Rose? What is it?" His trainers came into sight beyond her leg and an instant later she felt his fingers on her chin, tilting her face toward his.

"It's silly."

"Oh, I love silly." His grin flashed and Rose couldn't help but smile back. "That's what I do: silly. I embrace the silly." He tweaked her nose. "What is it?"

"It's just…my mum… whenever she gave me a plaster, she'd always…kiss it better afterward." The Doctor's eyebrow quirked up and Rose felt her cheeks grow warmer. "It's not a big deal…" She turned to wiggle away and slide off the edge of the bed but the Doctor's palm landed on her thigh, drawing her attention unerringly to him once more.

Keeping his eyes on hers, he carefully rolled up the stiff fabric of her jeans and lightly touched his lips to her shin, right over the plaster. She bit her lip and he kissed her leg again, a bit more firmly.

"Like that?" His voice was a bit deeper and a bit huskier than she was used to and she felt it down to her core. A shiver worked its way up her spine but she bit her lip harder and forced it down as he wrapped his fingers around hers, lowering their hands. "Rose?"

"Yeah." She frowned, cleared her throat. "Yeah, just like that." His smile this time was slow and warm.

"Good. So!" He rolled back on his seat, fingers still gripping hers. "All better then? Anything else I missed?"

"Well…" she smiled and looked down before sneaking a glance at him under her eyelashes.

"Rose? What is it?"

"I sort of cut my lip a bit when I fell…" The Doctor's dark gaze dropped to her lips before meeting her eyes. A small grin quirked the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah?" She nodded.

"Can't have that, can we?" He brushed his lips lightly across hers before pulling back and lifting an eyebrow. "Better?"

"Well," she grinned, pretending to think about it. "Maybe you should do it again…just in case."

_fin_

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_Thanks for reading! Review, please, if you've got the time..._


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